"In its explorations of this wild and very American spirituality, Of Fathers and Fire places itself in an emerging context of literary treatments of the excesses, hazards, and fascinations of para-Christian faith."—Martyn Wendell Jones, Image
"Wingate writes fearlessly about the good, the bad, and the ugly in people and life in rural America. He is unafraid in his exploration of religion and the role it plays, for better and worse, in the lives of people searching for meaning."—Shelly Weinstein, Shelf Awareness
“Deeply felt, subtly innovative, utterly compelling, Steven Wingate’s Of Fathers and Fire is an excellent novel by a talented novelist who deserves—and with this book I feel certain will find—a wide audience.”—Robert Olen Butler, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
“Steven Wingate has a rare feel for American landscapes and for our recent past. I admire his willingness to tackle genuinely controversial topics—including religious vicissitudes and our complex visions of masculinity. Wingate’s keen sense of language houses an equally keen compassion for human plights.”—Elizabeth Kostova, author of The Historian and The Shadow Land
“Steven Wingate writes so well about teenagers and parents, belief and doubt, saxophone playing and rain making, and the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone. Of Fathers and Fire is a magical and deeply satisfying novel.”—Margot Livesey, author of Mercury and The Hidden Machinery
“Of Fathers and Fire employs magical realism in a way that few American writers have been able to achieve. . . . Beautifully detailed, from the geography of Colorado and Nebraska to the trivia of daily living. Steven Wingate has an eye for the peripheral, the seemingly insignificant, the almost forgotten. Much of the novel’s power comes from Wingate’s juxtaposition of the mundane with the miraculous.”—Mary Clearman Blew, author of Ruby Dreams of Janis Joplin
“A wonderfully strange and compelling coming-of-age novel that delves into the deep pull and dangers of religion, the grace of music, and the importance of finding one’s own path. . . . This is a beautiful book of a son seeking the truth, both personal and existential—which is, after all, the best quest any of us can go on.”—Laura Pritchett, author of Stars Go Blue
“There is something timeless and mythic in Wingate’s prose. The hardscrabble prairie life depicted here, with crisp, vibrant characters seeking their place in the world, has the same spiritual complexity of Flannery O’Connor, the same moral weight and imagination. Vital, timely, and unforgettable, Wingate’s story brings us into the heart of America so that we might ask questions of our own hearts, our own minds, and our own souls.”—Patrick Hicks, author of The Commandant of Lubizec and The Collector of Names
“Hate and love, secrets and redemption, prayer and violence, all these swirl together in this beautiful, brutal whirlwind of a novel fueled by elemental flames of the human heart. Like some mystic prophet, Wingate delivers signs and wonders in generous abundance.”—Neil Connelly, author of In the Wake of Our Vows
“Few writers write as fearlessly about matters of faith as Steven Wingate. The characters are vivid and compelling as they search for answers and connections, ever on the perilous road to either destruction or redemption.”—Robert Garner McBrearty, Sherwood Anderson Foundation Fiction Award–winning author of Episode and A Night at the Y
